The man who exposed the apartheid security force hit squads is trying to get out of jail - but Minister of Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour is ignoring him. Butana Almond Nofemela is in Pretoria Central Prison and has spent 21 years behind bars for a non-politically related murder. His request for parole was approved months ago and the documents were sent to Balfour, as legally required, in March.
Balfour has still not made a decision, Nofemela said in papers filed with the Pretoria High Court, citing the minister. Correctional Services is opposing Nofemela's application, although the court action is a demand for a decision from Balfour, not for parole." The department will defend the case although we have thus far received only a letter of demand," said Correctional Services Ministry spokesperson Manelisi Wolela. He did not respond to requests for further comment. Nofemela has been trying to secure parole for a year. "During November 2007 I was seen by the case management committee of the Pretoria Local Prison, who recommended my placement on parole," Nofemela said in an affidavit supporting his application. The request was then approved by the parole board, then forwarded to the National Council for Correctional Services which is headed by Judge Siraj Desai. The council's recommendation to grant parole was forwarded to Balfour in March, but Balfour had "failed, neglected and/or refused to consider" it, said Nofemela.
Nofemela's lawyer, Julian Knight, wrote to Balfour's office asking for a decision but received no response. Knight said it was "completely unacceptable" that the minister would neglect since March to make a decision, not just for Nofemela but for an unknown number of other parole applicants. "It displays callous disregard for the constitutional rights of prisoners," he said.
Judge Desai confirmed having dealt with Nofemela's case, but would not say what the decision was. It's not known how many other prisoners serving life sentences are also still waiting for decisions by the minister. It's understood that usually the parole board makes the decision, which is then endorsed by the minister. Judge Desai said his 20-member council had met three times this year and dealt with "30 or 40 cases". Another 20 are due to be discussed next month. Once the cases are referred to the minister, the council doesn't see them again as the minister refers his decisions to the department to implement. Judge Desai said there was an increase in parole applications by life-sentence prisoners because the death penalty was abolished about 20 years ago.
Democratic Alliance MP and party spokesperson on correctional services James Selfe said that in terms of the law, an inmate sentenced to life imprisonment could not get parole until he had served at least 25 years, or 15 years if he was over 65 years old. However, he said the act had been amended, which could affect Nofemela's case, or he could have qualified for "special or meritorious remission of sentence. Decisions about releasing inmates on parole should be taken by independent parole boards (or, in serious offenders' cases, by the Parole Review Board) after they have satisfied themselves that the inmate has corrected his behaviour and is rehabilitated," said Selfe. "Such decisions should not be made by any politician, particularly one as inefficient as Ngconde Balfour."
Nofemela was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in September 1987 for the murder of farmer Johannes Hendrik Lourens at Skeerpoort near Brits in September 1986.
In 1989, the night before he was due to be executed, Nofemela got an urgent application to stay the execution when he confessed to being an askari - a turned guerrilla working for the police - involved in a security police hit squad which operated from Vlakplaas near Pretoria. This was the first confirmation of a security force hit squad, and Nofemela's execution was put on hold while his claims were investigated.
Nofemela's story was supported by his former Vlakplaas police commander Captain Dirk Coetzee and fellow askari David Tshikalanga. Their story was also told to the Harms Commission of inquiry into hit squads, which ultimately did not confirm that there were any hit squads. In September 1994 Nofemela's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment but he remained in jail due to his conviction for Lourens' murder, as this was not politically related but a robbery. Nofemela and Coetzee were later granted amnesty for killing human rights lawyer Griffiths Mxenge in Durban in November 1981. Nofemela was refused amnesty for Lourens' killing.
Last month Clive Derby-Lewis, jailed for killing SACP leader Chris Hani in 1993, brought an application in the Pretoria High Court to demand parole. The matter has been postponed. Derby-Lewis, 72, has been in jail for 15 years and is eligible to apply for parole because of his age.
Source: IoL
No comments:
Post a Comment